The Court of Appeal was giving detailed reasons today for its decision last month to clear Angela Cannings of murdering her two baby sons.

Three judges who reached the "clear conclusion" that Mrs Cannings should be freed from her life jail sentence were expected to emphasise the continuing uncertainty among medical experts over the causes of "cot death" - which she always insisted killed her little boys.

Mrs Cannings, 40, a shop assistant from Salisbury, Wiltshire, was convicted by a Winchester Crown Court jury in April 1992 of smothering seven-week-old Jason in 1991 and 18-week-old Matthew in 1999.

She was not charged over the death of her first child, Gemma, at the age of 13 weeks in 1989. She also has a daughter, born in January 1996.

Allowing her appeal on December 10, the judges said the case raised issues of public interest in relation to cot death and they would take time to reflect on how to express the reasons for their judgment.